Harmony
by Astral Kyouki
Summary: After their breakup, Jade runs into Dave unexpectedly at a popular nightclub and is distraught to see him with a new girl. Just when her night seems to be completely ruined, however, an old friend shows up to console her. (Jade x Karkat oneshot)
The entire room seemed to tremble with the powerful beat of the music, and everyone on the dancefloor was like a heartbeat moving in synchronization with the steady bass rhythm. Jade stood off to the side by the bar, glancing every now and then at her ex, Dave, as he made conversation with a girl whom she did not recognize. The girl was wearing a pair of crimson glasses, and Jade could feel her stomach drop as she heard her laugh in the distance at a joke Dave had apparently cracked.

As the girl leaned in to steal a kiss from the blonde "cool kid," Jade walked quickly away from them to an empty table, trying to suppress her tears. She had no idea why seeing them together made her so upset; she thought she had gotten over her breakup with Dave a long time ago and told herself that she should be happy for the two of them. Still, she couldn't get rid of the heartache she felt as a result of the fact that Dave had cheated on her.

Jade rested her head down on the table, burying her face in her arms. Her tears quickly turned into quiet sobs as she continued to think about the couple. What did Dave see in that girl that made her so special? She had only wanted him to love her as much as she loved him, and for the time that they were together, she had been certain that he did. The Witch wanted to be anywhere but here right now. She hadn't even had much to drink, and already she was feeling a bit light-headed and nauseous. She wanted to get up and leave to go home, but she didn't even have the energy to move away from the table.

Just then, Jade heard someone take a seat next to her and felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Even though she wanted to be alone, she was too exhausted to even look up at the newcomer.

"Hey there, Harley. What's the matter?" a soft voice asked, one that she immediately recognized as belonging to Karkat.

She slowly lifted her head to look at him even though she knew her eyes were puffy and her hair was a mess. Seeing the concerned look on his face made her cry even harder. It was so strange seeing him act all kind like this; usually he was pissed at everyone, at the world, and especially at himself. Jade appreciated the fact that he had gone through the effort of calming down for once and focusing on someone other than himself. She really did. The two of them had been close friends even before she and Dave became an item, and Jade's eyes suddenly widened as she remembered how Karkat had warned her about the blond beforehand, calling him a "prick" and a "player," along with a host of other insulting names that hadn't stuck in her mind.

"I should have believed you. He's just a big, fat, inconsiderate douchebag!" Jade sobbed, covering her face with her hands. Karkat didn't say anything like, "I told you so" or "It's your fault for not listening to me." Instead, he gently rubbed her back in small, slow circles, whispering to her.

"Shh, I know it hurts, but it'll be okay," he reassured her.

After a few moments, Jade mumbled, "I thought you liked Terezi." By this point, she had calmed down a bit and was looking back up at the troll. She had to admit he looked rather handsome tonight.

Karkat was silent for a few moments but then shook his head, "I used to, but then I realized that she's more interested in flirting than a serious relationship," he explained. Karkat said this matter-of-factly, which made Jade assume that he had already gotten over any feelings he'd had for her. He then bit his lip and stared into her eyes as if searching for an answer to a question he was silently asking himself.

Jade cocked her head slightly to one side to indicate that she was wondering what was on his mind. Her gray-skinned friend just shook his head again, laughing to himself.

"It's nothing," he reassured her.

Jade frowned a bit, "I'll respect you if you don't feel comfortable telling me, but I'm willing to listen to whatever you have on your mind."

Karkat smiled at this and reached over to ruffle her hair. Jade noticed that he was blushing a little. Soon, however, his face grew serious.

"Jade…do you know why I _was_ so against you dating Dave three months ago?"  
"Because you knew he would hurt me?" The Witch honestly couldn't think of any other reason for his disapproval besides the fact that he was trying to be a good friend to her.

"Well, that too, but there was something else…" Karkat replied, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He took a deep breath, and his next words were rushed as if he wanted to get them out and over with, "It was because I like you."

Jade just stared at him wide-eyed, unaware of the fact that her face was growing a rosy red. She had never even dared to think of Karkat as more than a friend before, knowing how "flushed," as he called it, he felt for Terezi.

Above all, though, Jade felt guilty for having been blind to his feelings for her this entire time, "Karkat…I don't know what to say. You always talked about how in love you were with Terezi that I never assumed you felt that way about me."

Karkat rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Yeah, well…to be completely honest…I kept saying that to hide the fact that it was really you I liked that way. I'm sorry for hiding the truth from you like that."

Normally, Jade would have been annoyed with him for lying to her, but she was too surprised by what he had just told her to care. And plus, all of this had happened months ago.

"How long have you felt this way about me?" she inquired out of curiosity.

It took him a few seconds to answer, a thoughtful expression on his face, "Remember that party at Sollux's hive? The whole gang was there," he finally asked.

Jade tried to recall the party, the corner of her mouth twitching upward at the nostalgic memories of that night. At the time, Karkat had been in the same position as she was right now. Jade had tried to comfort him even though he refused to tell her why he was upset. The two of them ended up chatting and joking around for the rest of the night.

"Yeah, I remember," she answered, smiling at him, "That was when we started becoming really close."

Karkat returned the smile, and for a few moments he just sat there, staring into her eyes as he revisited the memory, too. He soon shook his head, though, remembering to finish his explanation.

"You kept asking why I was so sad, and I guess I didn't want to go into detail about it at the time, especially since the pain was fresh. Well…that night…Terezi and I were…" he began. He noticed how Jade's smile immediately faded and how her lip quivered ever so slightly when he said this last part, "No no, it was nothing like _that_! We were just kissing." He knew he should have skipped that part, especially since Jade was still sensitive about the whole situation with Dave. He sighed, inwardly scolding himself, but continued on.

"That night I asked her out on a date. It wasn't going to be anything fancy, just the movies or something. She acted all weird about it, never giving a direct answer but saying how much 'fun' we would have. She started giggling and sort of pressed herself up against me, which made me really uncomfortable. Then I asked her how she really felt about me, which made her turn serious and tell me the truth. She said I 'wasn't her type,' but that she found me attractive and fun to be around. Then she told me she'd rather spend time with me somewhere more…private."

"In retrospect I'm glad she was honest with me, but at the time it hurt. It really did. Then you came along. I had talked to you a few times beforehand, but it wasn't until that night that I really started to get to know you. I realized then that you're the opposite of her, that you actually gave a shit about how I felt and cared about me for who I was, not because of how I looked or the fact that I didn't try to avoid you. I wasn't your plaything. I knew that you just wanted to be there for me and make sure that I was happy. That meant the world to me, Jade, and it still does." His eyes were beginning to tear up at this point and he had to wipe them quickly with the back of his hand.

Jade, however, was less successful in hiding her tears. His love for her was too great for her to handle. She couldn't believe how dumb she had been in falling for someone like Dave when here she had someone who truly cared about her for who she truly was rather than for her body. Her heart ached at the thought that she hadn't felt the same way about him until now.

Nonetheless, she threw her arms around him, sobbing. He was caught off-guard at first but soon held her close to him.

"Thank you for being there for me, Karkat," she began between sniffles, "If I said that I feel the same way about you, though, it would be a partial lie because I haven't thought of you in that way until now." She pulled away from the hug, looking at him and biting her lip. She knew she had just ruined her chances with him by saying this; he would think that she only felt that way about him because he was interested in her, which wasn't the case.

Instead, however, he just gave her a sad smile, "I know. You're just beginning to let go of your feelings for Dave and that's…totally fine…" his voice broke off and he closed his eyes as tears made their way down his own face.

Jade was crying, too, even harder now than he was. "No, you're one of the most kind, compassionate, understanding people I've ever met. I just…I never thought you would like me like this…" her sobs were audible now, and once again she buried her face in her hands, "I fell for Dave because he seemed like a really cool guy at the time, and I thought he actually saw something special in me. I guess I was wrong," Jade stopped talking now because she was only confirming what Karkat had said. Up until now, she hadn't realized to what extent he had tricked her. It had taken seeing him with Terezi to fully understand how wrong her assumptions of her had been.

"I'm sorry. I'm just repeating myself at this point," Jade said this with a final sigh of resignation, knowing it was no use. But to her astonishment, she felt Karkat's hand cup the side of her face and then his lips press softly against hers.

"Don't be sorry. Just please believe me when I say that I understand," he whispered.

Jade's face grew red hot for a moment, but then she wiped the tears from her eyes and returned the kiss passionately. That was all she could have wanted to hear him say right now. All she wanted to do was pretend that she had never even been close to Dave in the first place. All she wanted right now was to be with Karkat, and she wished that she could stay here in his embrace for the remainder of the night.


End file.
